powered by FreeFind

Apple iTunes

Archives

November "sweeps" opens with some significant ratings ups and downs

Do you enjoy breathing? A story you can’t afford to miss -- tonight at 10.

Sorry, but I just wanted to acclimate you to the latest four-week ratings “sweeps” period, which began Thursday. We’ve got all the D-FW local newscast results plus some intriguing prime-time numbers for a now NFL-less CBS. It’s all on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark

HBO's Olive Kitteridge superbly dramatizes life's hard lessons

Clear out some more Emmy space for HBO, which likely has another big winner in Olive Kitteridge. The two-part, four-hour miniseries premiers on Sunday, Nov. 2nd, and our review is here.

Plus, Wednesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is highlighted by a classic Game 7 of the World Series. See the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page for complete details.
Ed Bark

Split decision between Mavs' season opener and Game 6 of the World Series

From 7 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Dallas Mavericks’ season opener and Game 6 of the World Series vied to be the night’s top D-FW sports attraction.

Who won and who lost? Both. See the complete ratings results on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark

Pluck of the Irish: CBS gets The McCarthys rolling

Its four new fall drama series already have received full-season pickups. Now comes the last of CBS’ newcomers, The McCarthys. It’s a sitcom and it fits the CBS mold. And our review is here.
Ed Bark

Cowboys flop on field but hit 1.5 million D-FW viewer mark for fourth time in eight games

The Washington Redskins’ drama-drenched 20-17 overtime upset of the Dallas Cowboys hit it big on Monday Night Football’s prime-time stage.

In D-FW, the game was carried on ESPN and simulcast on Gannett8. TV agreements require Monday Night Football to be available on free, over-the-air TV in the two competing teams’ markets. We have the complete D-FW ratings breakdown on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark

Sunday Night Football easily reigns over Game 5 of World Series

D-FW viewers again chose NFL football in overwhelming numbers over Sunday night’s competing Game 5 of the World Series. We’ve got all the weekend ratings details on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark

Ex-CBS11 morning anchor Brendan Higgins announces settlement with Aspen authorities

Brendan Higgins, dropped by D-FW’s CBS11 after an altercation with Aspen, Colo. authorities last August, says he has entered a “deferred prosecution agreement” in the matter. Higgins had co-anchored CBS11’s early morning weekday newscasts. Further details and Higgins’ complete statement are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark

CBS11 traffic reporter Whitney Drolen resigns from station

Whitney Drolen, main traffic reporter for D-FW’s CBS11 since August 2012, confirms to unclebarky.com that she resigned from the station on Friday, Oct. 24th. Details and her comments are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark

Say it loud: HBO premieres Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown

HBO’s two-hour documentary, Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown, was made with the “unique cooperation” of his estate, which granted extensive use of previously unseen footage. The trade-off: Brown’s numerous latter day troubles are never mentioned in a film that takes his career only to the mid-1970s. There’s still much to be seen, though, and much of the performance footage is eye-popping. Our review is here.

Also, CBS says goodbye to its portion of Thursday Night Football with the usual strong ratings in D-FW.
Ed Bark

Here comes NBC's Constantine, where the only constants are mayhem/confusion

Network TV’s latest comic book adaptation, Constantine, premieres on Friday, Oct. 24th in tandem with the new season launch of Grimm. Our review is here.
Ed Bark

Elongated, one-sided World Series hits and misses with Game 1

Fox obviously would have preferred a more competitive game. But the San Francisco Giants’ 7-1 win over the Kansas City Royals still did appreciably better in the D-FW ratings than the network’s typically little seen regular Tuesday night lineup. Still, it lost viewers from 9 to 10 p.m. while also getting off to a slow start opposite potent programming on both CBS and NBC. We have a complete hour-by-hour breakdown on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark

Vintage Annie Oakley TV series one of first to put a woman in charge

TV westerns had been a man’s world until Annie Oakley came around in 1954. It fully stood out in that crowd, which in retrospect seems a lot clearer. All 81 episodes are newly available in a DVD collection that’s also fully loaded with extras. Note that University of Texas at Austin grad Gail Davis played the starring role. And see our review right here.
Ed Bark

Cowboys again top 1.5 million viewer mark in D-FW ratings

Winning changes everything, particularly when it involves the Dallas Cowboys. Sunday’s 31-21 victory over the New York Giants became the third of seven games to surpass the 1.5 million viewer mark in D-FW. All the details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.

Plus, Fox4 has the best of show among D-FW’s weekend morning adopt-a-pet segments.
Ed Bark

Rewinding and fast-forwarding with former KDFW-TV sports anchor Ted Dawson

Your friendly content provider has seen literally hundreds of D-FW anchor personalities come and go during nearly 35 years (the horror!) as a TV critic.

So we’re going to occasionally update you on where they are now and where they were then. Uncle Barky either has a valuable institutional memory or belongs in an institution. You make the call. Meanwhile, we’ll begin with former KDFW-TV sports anchor Ted Dawson, who’s still in the biz down Montana way. Check out our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.

Also, the Wednesday-Thursday D-FW ratings “snapshots” are in.
Ed Bark

CBS11 names Gilma Avalos as weekend morning news anchor

CBS11’s fledgling weekend morning newscasts will have a Latina anchor/meteorologist duo with the hiring Thursday of Gilma Avalos. More details on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark

Harry Shearer another worthy recipient of Dallas VideoFest's Kovacs Award

Harry Shearer is best known for two major contributions to the pop culture firmament -- The Simpsons and This is Spinal Tap. But Dallas VideoFest’s latest Kovacs Award winner also has been around long enough to have been a kid actor in some eye-catching early movies and TV shows. Learn more about him on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, which also has details on when and where he’ll accept this honor.
Ed Bark

HBO's Sonic Highways more than a one-night stand for Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl

HBO’s Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways intends to dig deep into the fabric of various cities’ defining music in an eight-part series premiering on Friday, Oct. 17th. Austin is included, but Chicago and Washington, D.C. are the first two stops. Our review is here.

Plus, NBC5’s “Texas Connects Us” easily is the best of show as far as D-FW news team promotions go. You can see the full-length version, which runs nearly three minutes, on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.

Also, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is posted.
Ed Bark

NBC hits right notes with its engaging Marry Me

Here’s a proposal. Watch the opening minutes of NBC’s Marry Me for the best sitcom setup of the season. It premieres on Tuesday, Oct. 14th, and our review is here.
Ed Bark

Cowboys high also reflected in D-FW ratings

The Dallas Cowboys’ Sunday smackdown of the Seattle Seahawks also set a new season-to-date D-FW ratings high. Details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, along with local ratings results for Saturday’s three marquee college football games involving Texas teams.
Ed Bark

High-appeal new star spikes The CW's Jane the Virgin

The CW’s Jane the Virgin is strong on implausibility but stronger in its casting of Gina Rodriguez as the title character. In a word, she’s luminous. In four more words, our review is here.
Ed Bark

Showtime's tantalizing The Affair (but will it remain so?)

Paired with the ongoing Season 4 of Homeland, Showtime’s The Affair premieres on Sunday, Oct. 12th. Just the first of 10 episodes was made available for review, making this series particularly hard to judge. For now, though, both the premise and the promise are enticing. Our review is here.

Also, Thursday’s D-FW ratings “snapshot” is posted. So is Wednesday’s.
Ed Bark

ABC's new Cristela: set in Dallas, rooting for Cowboys

Filmed in Hollywood but set in Dallas, the ABC sitcom Cristela premieres on Friday, Oct. 10th. Star Cristela Alonzo is a real-life, lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan. And in this show, so is her character. Our review is here.

Also the Monday-Tuesday D-FW Nielsen ratings highlights are posted.
Ed Bark

A big blast of creativity sparks FX's American Horror Story: Freak Show

The fourth go-around for FX’s American Horror Story will begin giving viewers the creeps on Wednesday, Oct. 8th. Subtitled Freak Show, it very much looks like the series’ best idea yet. Our review is here.

Plus, the TV Bulletin Board page has new nuggets on FX’s American Crime Story anthology series and Showtime’s new version of Twin Peaks.
Ed Bark

CW's The Flash has high speed appeal

The CW has just two new series this fall. One of them, The Flash, will be running on Tuesday nights, beginning Oct. 7th. Our review is here.
Ed Bark

Cowboys continue winning ways on field, in D-FW ratings for season's 1st game on CBS

The Dallas Cowboys’ overtime win over Houston Sunday afternoon built to a box office blockbluster by the time Dan Bailey kicked the winning field goal. All the D-FW ratings details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.

Also, a look at the reasons behind TNT’s Dallas cancellation and a response from the Dallas Film Commission. Our story is on the Network News & Reviews page.
Ed Bark

CBS11 adds Lisa Villegas to weather team

D-FW’s CBS11 has hired Lisa Villegas as its new weekend morning meteorologist. More details are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark

Carrie steels herself for Homeland's Season 4

Showtime’s most-honored series, Homeland, begins Season 4 with back-to-back hours on Sunday, Oct. 5th. Our review is here.
Ed Bark

Fox's Mulaney hits new season comedy low

Former Saturday Night Live writer/performer John Mulaney severely struggles to play himself in Fox’s new Mulaney, which premieres on Sunday, Oct. 5th. Our review is here.

Plus, Thursday Night Football continued to dominate the D-FW Nielsens despite a fourth consecutive blowout game. Details are on our Dallas--Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark

Fox's Gracepoint keeps the faith

Gracepoint, Fox’s version of the acclaimed British whodunit Broadchurch, keeps David Tennant in play while adding a rock-solid supporting cast. The 10-part “mystery event series” premieres on Thursday, Oct. 2nd. Our review is here.

Plus, Wednesday’s local Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is posted. And Tuesday’s edition now has the numbers for that night’s gubernatorial debate on KERA13.
Ed Bark

NBC hopes to bolster Thursdays with new comedies Bad Judge and A to Z

NBC is down to two comedies on Thursday nights. Both of them premiere on Oct. 2nd. Our review of Bad Judge is here. And the review of A to Z can be found here.

Plus, Tuesday’s D-FW ratings “snapshot” has some bad signs for three new ABC series.
Ed Bark